Rico Kaledin
ALTERNATE OF JAMAL SHADOWBLADE. Rico Kaledin, half-Vulpinsulan and half-Hanshiman. A (former?) member of the Grey Guard, Rico is Jamal ShadowBlade's retainer and right-paw beast. 'From the Bunk:' ''Nameday: Thermidor 4, 1706'' From appearances, a beast might think Rico Kaledin to be an average monitor lizard. The charcoal-gray lizard pretty much looks the part; he stands at 6'2" and has a large, muscular build. Rico's steel-gray eyes tend to stay focused on one point or hold another beast's gaze. The aforementioned image is also supported by the set of black leather armor which Rico often wears. It isn't as tough as plate armor, but anybeast could easily hear a metal-clad lizard running at them. Leather is lighter, anyways. When he isn't wearing his armor, Rico prefers his white leather vest, brown trousers, and black boots. His main weapon is a glaive, a six-foot hardwood staff with an 18-inch single-edged steel blade on one end. Rico might also be seen with a three-foot steel battleaxe and isn't hesitant to claw or bite if necessary. In all reality, Rico is not the average, brutish monitor. Well, rather, he doesn't really possess a simple, brutish intelligence. Brutes usually don't take the time to learn staff-fighting with a glaive, or take an active part in espionage. Aside from the hissing impediment, Rico can speak and write as well as anybeast, if not better. He is prone to voicing his opinion and, outside of duty and such, hardly calls anybeast by name. Very few see Rico in a submissive mood, and those few tend to be someone he truly respects. While he may not be exactly loyal to the Imperium or any land, Rico isn't the type to commit a crime or seek blood for the fun of it. If he were to seek out crime, it would be more likely in an attempt to stamp it out. Rico has some morals that he tries to uphold, though with an almost unhealthy liking for meat and a personal agenda... 'Biography' There are some beasts who, if given the chance, might debate Rico Kaledin's true origins. His father was Vulpinsulan, a lizard warrior aboard one of the Imperium's trade ships when it was attacked. The survivors were taken captive and shipped to an eastern land, where Rico's father was forced to serve the ShadowBlade Clan. In time, Rico became the youngest of five hatchlings with a native monitor for a mother. The ShadowBlade Clan allowed some limited freedom within its boundaries, yet the ruling family required male adults, those that were fit to do so, to hold military-related positions or be soldiers. If anyone were to ask him, and if he were willing to say so, Rico would tell a tale of how he avoided becoming a mere soldier. The way he tells it, when Rico was a hatchling, his father took him to an armory with the idea of teaching Rico to fight with an axe or mace. However, Rico was more interested in the polearms that he spied. While he tried to argue with his father, Lester ShadowBlade III, Warlord of the ShadowBlade Clan, appeared in the armory and hired Rico's father as a bodyguard, with a and disputed interest in the hatchling. With the new promotion in rank, the family of Rico's father acquired some new privileges, though still limited. The Warlord still viewed them as little more than tools, a family of monitor lizards that could be shaped for the ruling family's purposes. Rico was slightly more favored than his siblings, maybe for standing his ground against his father's temper in the armory; there were many scuffles within the family. As he grew older, Rico was allowed the polearm-training he desired (favoring the glaive most of all), so long as he continued to learn axe-fighting and the basics of military training. As he grew out of adolescence, Rico found his way into the position of bodyguard for the Warlord's second son, Jamal ShadowBlade. Over the coming years, Rico gradually became Jamal's confidant as the wildcat worked in his unofficial position as the ShadowBlade family's spymaster. The monitor was perhaps the one beast who knew the most about Jamal's activities and aliases, among other things, not counting Jamal himself. In the same period of time, Rico became the sub-leader of Jamal's crew of spies and other beasts, with his own contacts to ensure the wildcat's safety. As it was, Jamal couldn't have picked a better, or worse, time to leave the clan. That same night, Rico personally apprehended an assassin that was hired to kill Jamal. By default, Rico became the temporary acting spymaster, though he was convinced that Jamal's brother, Lester IV, had sent the assassin. Within the next two months, Rico arranged certain things and assisted the Warlord in gaining a distinct advantage over their rival clan. It was the monitor's turn, then, to pack up and leave the ShadowBlade Clan, to seek out Jamal and deliver the good news. Through all his life, however, Rico plotted from the moment he was able to. Hardly anybeast truly knew of the monitor's own schemes and maneuvers, whether in Jamal's interest or his own... 'Since Arriving in Bully Harbor...' ''--Rico joined the Grey Guard, partly to deal with crime and partly to have an occupation that paid.'' ''--Rico is also attempting to establish a network of sorts. It's not clear why.'' Category:Alternates Category:Monitor lizards Category:Males Category:Beasts Category:Jamal K. ShadowBlade Category:Grey Guards